Eighth-grader garners a top spot in essay contest

Lemon Grove student learns about debt and persuades judges

When she first started working on her essay, Michelle Tran didn’t know anything about the national debt. But her history teacher presented the class with an assignment to write about it, and she thought it would be cool. She didn’t think she’d win second place.

“My teacher, he was, like, really serious that day,” she said about the day he announced the winners. “And we all sat down and he started saying the winners. I didn’t believe it at first, and then, yeah, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’”

Michelle is 14 and in the eighth grade at Palm Middle School in Lemon Grove. Her second place win was in the Lemon Grove Historical Society’s annual contest, which is part of the society’s mission to foster an interest in studying history, especially among the young, said Helen Ofield, president of the society.

Michelle and the other students in the contest had to tackle the topic of the U.S. national debt ceiling. They were required to argue for or against the existence of a national debt and debt ceiling. Some suggestions on what to explore included where the national debt came from, why it is (or why it is not) crucial to the functioning of government and national growth, how it affects ordinary citizens, who the country owes money to and why, why has the deficit increased, is the country in danger from rising debt, and who is concerned about it.

The English and history teachers at the school worked together in helping the students perfect a persuasive essay, and the judges noticed the improvement in the overall quality of writing in this year’s entries.

“Michelle’s essay was so technically well-structured, so expressive, her paragraph structure was just a pleasure to see. And, again, I’m speaking as an old English teacher,” Ofield said, laughing. “She struck a very critical note about debt, showing tremendous concern for what would happen to her generation and her (future) children’s.”

Michelle likened America’s debt to “a train out of control, roaring down the track, seemingly unable to get a grip on our own fate,” Ofield said. She backed that view up with historical material, much of it focused on Alexander Hamilton.

She won a gift basket with a book about Lemon Grove, and the praise of her friends and family.

“Before, I didn’t know anything about this. I didn’t know anything about it when it said ‘national debt.’ I didn’t even know what it was, but after researching it and doing the essay, I learned that it’s affecting everyone, even kids like me,” Michelle said. “And I think that we should all do something about it.”